A farming master in Stardew Valley

Chapter 909: The Circle of Special Merchants

Fortunately, Sophia did not notice anything unusual about Leon. After asking Abigail's witch friend a few more questions, she found that Leon didn't seem to know much about it, so she didn't ask any more questions.

After the pickup left the Stardew Valley area and entered a desert covered with yellow sand, Sophia fell asleep quickly.

Lyon didn't wake him up until they arrived at the desert oasis.

"We're here! It's so fast."

Sophia rubbed her eyes and looked at the lively scene outside the car window, looking around curiously.

This was her first time in the desert oasis, so she was curious about everything here.

"Brother, what's that stall selling? It looks so cool."

Soon, Sophia's attention was drawn to a luxury tent that looked more formal and luxurious than the simple tents around the parking lot.

There was a window on the side of the tent facing the parking lot. A brown businessman wearing a rather gorgeous turban was waving at this side, looking very enthusiastic. There was a fence next to the tent, and a tall camel was tied to the fence and chewing on a cactus, which aroused Sophia's great interest.

"Some very special goods, but he doesn't seem to charge for them." Leon followed Sophia's gaze and saw the desert merchant who looked quite familiar to him. Thinking of his last communication with him, he patiently explained to Sophia.

"If you don't charge money, what will you charge?" Sophia asked Leon curiously.

“It’s a barter. If you’re interested, you can go and have a look.” Leon said, then turned off the engine and got out of the car.

Without the air conditioning, Lyon was sweating all over after getting off the car due to the heat wave and dry air.

Sophia was the same, but this did not hinder her enthusiasm. Instead, she couldn't wait to pull Leon and trot towards the desert merchant's tent.

"Boss, what are you selling here?"

Coming to the window of the big tent, Sophia looked at the smiling desert merchant and immediately asked.

"Special goods from all over the world, ancient secrets of ruins deep in the desert, and delicacies containing strange energy." The desert merchant answered in a chanting tone. His voice was quite pleasant and the rhythm was very tasteful.

Seeing Sophia's eyes wide open after being fooled, with an expression of exploration and expectation on her face, Leon looked at the desert merchant speechlessly and complained.

"We're all friends, don't get so fancy, just give us a catalogue."

"Okay, my friend! Please look."

Although the desert merchant was helpless about Lyon's unromantic bluntness, he still handed over a rough papyrus scroll full of history to Lyon.

As soon as Leon opened the scroll, Sophia immediately put her little head over.

"Ancient Treasures: These treasures contain various antiques and rare treasures."

"Butterfly cage: placed indoors, it can attract different butterflies according to the characteristics of the season."

"Dark Piano: A piano from an ancient castle. Although it can still be played, the notes it produces cannot be easily heard."

"Magic Candy Popsicle: A rare and powerful magical candy infused with the special essence of the Multicolored Shard."

After a quick glance at the catalog, the items were the same, but unlike in the game, none of them had price tags. "Boss, why are there no prices?" Sophia immediately asked the desert merchant.

"My friend, I can only give you an estimate after you have chosen what you want to buy." The desert merchant replied seriously.

"How much is this butterfly cage?" Sophia asked, pointing to the item in the catalog that she was most interested in.

"Money? I don't want money, my friend. Your currency has no value in my hometown. What I need is something interesting in return." The desert merchant looked at Sophia and explained with a smile.

"Then what do you need in return?" Sophia asked curiously.

"Are you going to buy it or is he going to buy it?" The desert merchant's eyes wandered between Leon and Sophia, and then he asked back.

"Ah? Is there any difference?" Sophia was confused.

"Of course, if you buy it, I need 20 bottles of Blue Moon wine. If he buys it, I need 200 monster bat wings." The desert merchant gave a transaction quotation for the butterfly cage and continued with a sincere look on his face.

"And I guarantee that this price is the most reasonable. My eyes won't deceive me, nor will they deceive you, my friends."

"Hey!" Sophia listened to the desert merchant's offer and subconsciously glanced at Leon. She quickly pulled Leon over and leaned over to whisper in his ear, "How did he know I was the winemaker of Blue Moon Wine? Apart from my distributors and some family and friends, no one else knew about this."

"You can ask him." Lyon smiled and pointed at the desert merchant.

"Don't be surprised, my friend. I have no intention of prying into your privacy. The bargaining chips for measuring transactions also come from the answers given by my eyes. It is indeed a bit special, but not that mysterious. It can only give me a hint of the price of the commodity transaction." The desert merchant was obviously not a customer who saw Sophia in such a situation, and explained frankly.

"Isn't this mysterious?" Sophia curled her lips when she heard this, thinking that the desert merchant was fooling her.

"After all, he is a businessman who can walk alone in the desert. It is normal for him to have some special means. You also know that some people in this world are destined to be different from ordinary people." Leon stroked Sophia's head and comforted her.

"If you'd like, perhaps I could take you to meet some unique businessmen similar to this boss. They're quite interesting, too."

"Huh?" Sophia looked at Leon in confusion and asked, "What kind of merchant is that? Is he the same as Krobus?"

Sophia had seen special merchants before, such as the shadow merchant Krobus, but Lyon was talking about them. Obviously, Lyon knew more than one such special merchant.

"Well, I'll introduce you to them when I get the chance. They're quite interesting. One of them rides a hot air balloon and sells books that grant special abilities when read. Another is a smuggler selling specialties from the Gotlo Empire. His carriage is pulled by a pig, but this pig can swim across the Gem Sea."

Leon began to introduce Sophia to the bookseller Marcello and the pig cart smuggler Egger.

"Haha, my friend, you also know Marcello and Egger. What a coincidence." The desert merchant who was listening nearby heard Leon's description and immediately agreed, "And there are also bridge walkers. So, you are guests from Stardew Valley, right?"

"Yes." Leon nodded. He was not surprised that the desert merchant knew these three merchants. After all, they were all engaged in special commodity business, and perhaps they also had their own social circles.

"Stardew Valley is a great place, but it's a pity that I can't leave the desert, otherwise I would have planned to go there to take a look." The desert merchant said this with a look of regret on his face.

Leon did not ask the desert merchant why he could not leave the desert, but just asked about the topic that the desert merchant had just mentioned about knowing Egger.

"By the way, if you know Egger, do you know what he's been doing lately? He said he comes to Stardew Valley once a month, but I haven't seen him in a long time."

(End of this chapter)